Elasto-capillarity in insect fibrillar adhesion

The manipulation of microscopic objects is challenging because of high adhesion forces, which render macroscopic gripping strategies unsuitable. Adhesive footpads of climbing insects could reveal principles relevant for micro-grippers, as they are able to attach and detach rapidly during locomotion....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the Royal Society interface Vol. 13; no. 121; p. 20160371
Main Authors Gernay, Sophie, Federle, Walter, Lambert, Pierre, Gilet, Tristan
Format Journal Article Web Resource
LanguageEnglish
Published England The Royal Society 01.08.2016
Royal Society
Subjects
Animal Structures - anatomy & histology
Animal Structures - physiology
Animals
Biomechanics
Biomimicry
Capillary Forces
Coleoptera - anatomy & histology
Coleoptera - physiology
Elasticity
Elasto-Capillarity
Engineering, computing & technology
Gastrophysa viridula
Ingénierie, informatique & technologie
Insect Setae
Life sciences
Life Sciences–Engineering interface
Locomotion - physiology
Sciences du vivant
Wet Adhesion
biomechanics
insect setae
biomimicry
elasto-capillarity
capillary forces
wet adhesion
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The manipulation of microscopic objects is challenging because of high adhesion forces, which render macroscopic gripping strategies unsuitable. Adhesive footpads of climbing insects could reveal principles relevant for micro-grippers, as they are able to attach and detach rapidly during locomotion. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. In this work, we characterize the geometry and contact formation of the adhesive setae of dock beetles (Gastrophysa viridula) by interference reflection microscopy. We compare our experimental results to the model of an elastic beam loaded with capillary forces. Fitting the model to experimental data yielded not only estimates for seta adhesion and compliance in agreement with previous direct measurements, but also previously unknown parameters such as the volume of the fluid meniscus and the bending stiffness of the tip. In addition to confirming the primary role of surface tension for insect adhesion, our investigation reveals marked differences in geometry and compliance between the three main kinds of seta tips in leaf beetles.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
scopus-id:2-s2.0-84983608423
IAP 7/38 MicroMAST funded by BELSPO (Belgian Science Office Policy)
ISSN:1742-5689
1742-5662
1742-5662
DOI:10.1098/rsif.2016.0371